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Posts Tagged ‘Patience’

The Wait: A beautiful ode to patience and wildlife photography

04 Jan

Michel D’Oultremont is one of the brightest rising stars in the world of wildlife photography, and that’s not just our opinion—at just 22-years-old, he was named ‘Rising Star’ by the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. His work very much speaks for itself, but his work ethic is what’s turned the most heads, thanks to this intense short film by Contra titled The Wait.

The Wait follows Michel on a trip to Romania, where he went searching for the ‘perfect’ photo of the bison recently reintroduced to the Carpathian mountains.

Throughout the film, Michel explains his evolution as a wildlife photographer: how he began by taking pictures that were very “documentary” style before backing away to allow more breathing room and compositional space between himself and the animals he was capturing.

“I tried to put more importance on the environment or the play of light, rather than the animal itself,” he explains in the video. “I’d prefer to take a picture of a common bird in a beautiful environment…” That’s how he captures photos like the ones he shared with DPReview below. Environmental shots that are about so much more than their primary subject; photos that show the scene as it was.

“I do not cheat in my pictures, no flash, no post-treatment after,” he told me over email. “I do not remove any items and add none.”

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But the short film is titled Wait, after all, so it doesn’t take long for Michel to arrive at his main subject. As he hunkers down for his week-long wait in the Carpathian mountains, he begins to speak of patience, one of the most challenging skills one must develop to capture powerful wildlife photography.

“Patience is one of the most important things to have. Without patience it’s not possible to see the animals,” he narrates. “If half an hour, an hour passes and you’re fed up and want to leave the hide, it’s just not going to work. Generally, you’ve got to be in place for [at least] a few hours to be forgotten by nature.”

For many of his shots, it often takes a week or a week and a half of waiting, watching, and learning the environment before he captures the photograph he’s after. Which is, in the end, about how long it took to finally capture the bison on camera:

To see the rest of the bison photos he captured while in the Carpathians, or if you’re just in need of inspiration this Thursday, definitely check out the full short film at the top. It’s one of the more poignant and accurate descriptions of the kind of love-of-nature and love-of-photography that it takes to stand out as a wildlife photographer these days.

And if you enjoy the film, be sure to visit Michel’s website, like his Facebook page, and give him a follow on Instagram for lots more.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

09 Mar

It’s interesting that on websites like Digital Photography School you will find lots of articles on gear and photographic techniques, but far fewer on the mindset of the successful photographer. I’ve always believed that the key to understanding why people are successful lies in the way they think. For example, if you want to build a business that turns over a million dollars a year, then you would learn a great deal from talking with people who have already achieved that.

It’s the same with photography. One of the mindset skills that is important to cultivate is patience. It’s surprisingly difficult to do. Much has been written about our western culture of instant gratification and shortening attention spans. Many people are naturally impatient – it is natural to want results now rather than wait.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

With all this in mind, let’s look at some of the ways that patience can make you a better photographer.

1. Patience gives you time to explore the scene

It’s so often tempting to find an interesting scene, take a few photos, then move on to look for something else.

But what if you waited? Maybe the right person needs to enter the frame to complete the composition. Perhaps you have to wait until somebody finishes what they are doing and moves out of the way. Maybe you just need to work the scene more, trying different angles and focal lengths and taking the time to look beyond the obvious.

Patience will help you do that.

For example, I had to sit and observe the scene below and wait for the right person to enter the frame. He finally did – and I got this photo.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

2. Patience helps you build rapport with a model

Patience is a great characteristic to have in all dealings with people, but it’s especially helpful when photographing people. It takes time to gain somebody’s trust, to get to know them, and for them to open up and give you expressions that reveal character and emotion. It requires an emotional investment on your part, and it greatly helps if you are genuinely curious and interested in your model. An interesting conversation, a discovery of common experience or interest often leads to better, more revealing portraits.

You’ll get even better results if you work repeatedly with the same model. That requires the patience to build a friendship and working relationship, and the understanding that you might only start making your best portraits on the third or fourth shoot, not right away.

This is one of my favorite photos of this model, and it came on our third shoot. I would never have made it without the patience to build our working relationship.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

3. Patience helps immensely with long exposure photography

Long exposure photography is different from other types of landscape photography in that the shutter may be open for as much as five or six minutes. This is a long time to wait, and it can be difficult to know what to do.

I like to use that time purposefully, when I can, by exploring different compositions and angles of view with my iPhone (whose camera has nearly the same angle of view as my Fuji 18mm lens). This way I am working on my next photo while the camera is exposing the frame.

If I am not thinking about other photos then I like to relax, breathe in the air, and contemplate the scene. It’s a chance to chill out and enjoy the view, rather than rush from one viewpoint to another.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

4. Patience helps you find the best light

You’ll find the best light for most types of landscape, travel, and architectural photography at the beginning and end of the day, when the sun is low in the sky and golden light rakes across the scene. This is called the golden hour and it’s when most scenes look the most beautiful.

When you find an interesting place it takes patience to wait until the sun is lower in the sky, or discipline to wait and return when the light is better. The reward when you do so is beautiful light and more powerful images.

The light changes with the seasons as well as the time of day, and it takes patience to return to a scene at different times of year to explore it in different lighting conditions. I used to live near the beach where I took the photos below. Patience helped me build a series of images shot in different seasons and different types of light.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

5. Patience helps you build a body of work over time

One of the easiest ways to improve your photography is to assign yourself projects that you can tackle over time. Projects are interesting because they focus your attention on a theme that you can explore in depth. This takes time, patience and sometimes determination. There may be times when things don’t go your way, when creativity doesn’t flow, or when people let you down. Patience helps you push through these negative events and go on to complete your project.

This photo was taken as part of a long-term project photographing circus performers.

5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer

Learn how I created this shot here: How to Create Beautiful Light Painting Images With an Illuminated Hoop

The long-term view

One thing that all these ideas have in common is taking the long-term view. It’s all about considering what you’d like to achieve in photography over the next few years and how you are going to do so.

If, for example, you decide that you would like to spend more time taking photos of people, then there is some hard work in front of you in terms of finding interesting models and arranging shoots. Patience is required, but so is the ability to look into the future and think about your photography related goals, and the body of work you are building. Thinking ahead like this helps you act purposefully and constructively. Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more about the creative side of photography then please check out my ebook Mastering Photography.

The post 5 Ways Patience Makes You a Better Photographer by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Perseverance and Patience Will Payoff

11 Apr

When I look at my collection of photographs, my favourites are always the ones I really had to work for.

75% of the time I photograph what is in front of me, what is there when I get there, and I make the best of whatever weather conditions and light are present. But the other 25% I chock up to sheer stubbornness, or in other words, perseverance and patience.

Fire Wave, Valley of Fire

Recently I was in Nevada in the Valley of Fire State Park where I stayed at an RV park that was an hour away from the park entrance. I spent hours doing research about the park and learned about a specific location I wanted to photograph called “Fire Wave” which was not on the park maps.

It took about 1.5 hours to drive to the trail head and another half an hour or so to hike there (it sure seemed longer in the heat). When I got there, the light was just terrible. It was a grey sky day. I was hoping at the last minute the light would break through and give me the drama I wanted but it didn’t happen.

What was worse was a group of rude photographers who had also discovered the location. Usually I find other photographers are helpful to each other, staying out of each other’s way, and taking turns making images. But not these people. They were purposefully leaving bags and tripods in the way of specific points of view while they were photographing a different point of view, preventing other photographers from getting the shot. They were all together and I believe they drove out from Las Vegas for the day, so I guess they felt they owned the shot.

It just wasn’t to be. But I persevered.

A couple of days later I tried again. Another 3 hour drive round trip, another $ 10 park entrance fee, another hike in even greater heat to a place I had already seen, but this time it was different. There were a few other photographers there, but they were nice people. There was some lovely light, some puffy clouds, and I got the shot.

Fire Wave at the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, by Anne McKinnell

Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge

When I visited Florida, I really wanted to make some images of wading birds with reflections. It was one of the dream images I always wanted to make — the image I had in my mind before I ever went to Florida. In hopes of getting the shot, I rented a lens specifically for the occasion.

First I did a trip out to the park one afternoon to scout the location and figure out where I might be able to make such a shot. I found a section of water that was somewhat protected from the wind where a few birds were hanging out and I figured it was a good candidate.

The next day I got up long before the sun rose and drove to the park to be there as soon as it opened in the morning. I drove along the park drive to the location I picked, got my gear out, positioned myself on the shore, and waited. I waited and waited and nothing happened. Eventually the light got bright and the wind came up and there was no longer a possibility of getting the shot I wanted. I went on to make other images, but I didn’t get the one I really wanted.

So I went back the next morning and did the same thing. Drove to the location, got my gear out, sat and waited and waited. This time some birds came, but so did the wind and while I got some nice images, I still didn’t get the one I dreamed of.

So I persevered and went yet again. I think the man who opens the park gate in the morning was wondering why I was the first person there three days in a row. But on the third day, my fourth visit, it was as calm as calm can be. The light was perfect. I sat motionless waiting and waiting and then payoff!! I got three birds with perfect reflections: a spoonbill (this is the image I always dreamed of), a wood stork and an egret.

Roseate Spoonbill at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, Florida, by Anne McKinnell

Never have I had a bigger payoff for my stubbornness.

Bandon Beach

At Bandon Beach in Oregon, I wanted to make an image of the sun setting behind the rocks. There was lovely colour in the sky, but just as the sun starting making its descent towards the horizon the wind came up. It got windier and colder and I got pelted with sand and soaked with sea spray until finally I was the only photographer left on the beach. I was shivering cold, but determined to make the image I wanted.

I used a UV filter on my lens to protect it from the ocean spray that soaked everything and the blowing sand that felt like a sand blaster. I was getting the odd image, but they were always clouded with water, salt and sand. I turned my lens away from the wind as best I could, blocking it with my body, cleaned it and quickly put the lens cap on.

Then I got everything set up exactly the way I wanted it, quickly removed the lens cap, and took the shot. Then I repeated that whole process with cleaning the filter and quickly taking the lens cap off to make the image. Rinse and repeat — literally!

Finally, after about twenty attempts, I got a clean shot that was just what I wanted, made only moments before it would have been too late.

Sunset at Bandon Beach, Oregon, by Anne McKinnell

Occasionally getting a great image is pure luck. Usually we can make pretty good images at any time by using the light to our advantage. But more often than not I find the images that hit it out of the park are the ones I really worked for — when I planned everything out, persevered by going back to a location again and again, and tested my patience by waiting for the right light and enduring sea spray, blowing sand, freezing cold, or bug bites.

Those are the occasions that had the biggest payoff. Now, when I look at my collection, those are the images I am most proud of.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Perseverance and Patience Will Payoff


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8 August, 2012 – Dynamic Patience

25 Aug

What role does patience play in your photography? Do you rush from one location to another? Do you contemplate and prepare, or do you count on chance?

In his new essay, Dynamic Patience – The Essential Photographic Skill, photographer Bors Vesterby shares with us some insights on these questions.

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